Happy day before Friday! How has your week been going? Ours is cooling down a little. With that heat wave last week, we didn't really go anywhere, except the library, or make anything, except more ice cream. Which reminds me, be sure to check back here on July 1, if you are looking for ice cream!
Lindsay's been busy making pom-poms, she's always loved using scissors to cut, and this was the perfect craft for her! It's amazing how $2 worth of yarn, can keep a child happy for hours. Not to brag, but this past weekend, it hit 115F here in Arizona, and the past two days it's come back down to under 110F, thank goodness. My mother in law just got back from California, and was telling me how bad the drought really is over there, the rolling green hills near Riverside, aren't green anymore, and the fires in Big Bear. I'm not really complaining about the heat, but it really does make me feel like I'm baking in an oven, everytime I step outside, not to mention, my poor plants, both my mint and basil, died. This will all change, when the monsoons come next week!
Next weekend, for the 4th, we are going to a picnic up with my family, and I told my mother, I would bring potato salad. My nana really made the best potato salad, I know she only put onion, mayo, and potatoes, then she salted the potatoes when she boiled them, but she never added any additional salt, because she said, she let everyone put on as much or as little salt as they wanted. It was just simple and it was delicious. Now, my mother and mother in law, they toss different things in, like pickles, mustard, eggs, and celery, and they are both really good, but I wanted something a little different.
In the Summertime, I especially like to cook with fresh herbs, basil is my favorite, but with my plants dying in this heat, dill came to the rescue! My favorite flavor combination is with dill and lemon. Lindsay was having fun playing with the dill, running it through her fingers, telling me how soft and feathery it is! It is a very pretty herb, and very fragrant. Oh, how I love the smell of fresh dill.
Nana, was right about the salt, like she was right about everything! I forgot to salt my potatoes one time while I boiled them, not any amount of salt you put on them made them taste right! For this salad, I wanted to add something salty and crunchy, to get it that extra wow flavor factor, and bacon seriously adds that to anything. I just happened to have half a pound on hand.
Just as I finished cooking the bacon, it seemed like everyone flocked to the kitchen wanting a slice. I have to fight them off with my wooden spoon, telling them if I gave them a slice there wouldn't be any for my potato salad. They all gave me those sad puppy dog eyes, so I gave in, but only half a slice I said!
About the potatoes, this may seem weird, but I like russet potatoes for making mashed, and red potatoes for potato salad. I know I'm picky, but russet potatoes, seem more startchy and sticky, perfect for mashing, I like my potato salads, not so sticky. Maybe that's why I loved Nana's so much, she always used red. Anyways to each their own, right?!
Adding the lemon juice, was the best part of this salad, really! Something about lemons, that I love so much, it has this way of brightening up a recipe, waking it up. One bite, and my husband, told me he really liked it. The one thing I would change, and I know this is one thing that there are half of you that are team mayo and the other half are team yogurt. I happen to be team yogurt, and my husband is team mayo, as are the rest of my family, but I would use yogurt.
The final taste is extraordinary with all of these wonderful flavor combinations, not only was I pleasantly surprised how this potato salad turned out, but that it was something that my family enjoyed, as my children aren't big on potato salad, but once they got to see what goes in it (bacon), they loved it.
Fresh Herb Potato Salad with Bacon
3 pounds red potatoes, quartered
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 pound of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 cup fresh dill, or other herbs like basil, chives chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbls. lemon zest
the juice of 1 lemon
1. Place the potatoes into a large pot, add salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
2. Mix the chopped bacon, fresh herbs, mayonnaise, lemon zest and juice together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Once the potatoes are cooled, cut them into chunks. I then cover them, and put them in the refridgerator to cool about half an hour or overnight.
4. Add the bacon, herb and mayo to the potaotes and toss until well combined.
Hope you all have a beautiful day!
Until next time!
xo Christine
